


Communication

by Ouroburos (orphan_account)



Category: Final Fantasy XIII, Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Alternate Universe, Crossover Pairings, Established Relationship, F/M, Insecurity, Slice of Life, hormones hormones everywhere, lightis
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-25
Updated: 2013-12-25
Packaged: 2018-01-06 08:06:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,117
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1104444
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/Ouroburos
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>You really have to ask.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Communication

**Author's Note:**

> Set in an AU where FFXIII ended where it did, but the l'cie remained crystallized until waking up a couple of centuries later in the Kingdom of Lucis. Also, Noel, Yeul and Caius are children who have been adopted by Cor Leonis. Oh yeah, and Hormonal!Lightning

Noctis leaned against the doorframe with his arms crossed, weight braced on one foot, gaze locked on the pink-haired woman with her back to him.  Generally speaking, there was a consensus that the partner in the relationship who cared less had greater leverage.  And he had gotten out of bed determined to play the part.  He did very well—considering.  If a casual observer had not known the emotional significance of the change in his eye colour from its usual dark blue to a dark crimson, they would have been utterly convinced that he was  _not_  in fact, very aroused. 

Dressed only in a silk nightgown that hugged her ass and gave him a good view of her smooth bare legs, it would have required a miracle to remain unaffected by the memory of them wrapped around him while he moved inside of her; hard and deep. Additionally, had that particular memory taken place last night or a few nights ago then playing aloof would have been easier ( _maybe_ ).  Unfortunately, that wildly sexually gratifying experience was  _weeks_ ago _;_ before she started putting up walls he thought he’d long ago sent crumbling down.  Now all he was getting was a whole lot of ice.  It was almost as if they were back to square one again.

_Was it something I said?_

He used to be so good at reading her.  He didn’t know if it was him or the stress from her job but some days he could swear it was like Lind-Zei himself had possessed her.  She threw things at him, kicked and screamed at him even.  And for some reason, even frequently taking to locking herself in the bathroom whenever he so much as tried to initiate sex. Knowing Cor and his father would most likely laugh at him, he went to the guys for advice.  Ignis said to apologize.  Prompto said to get a new girlfriend.  Gladiolus said to ignore Prompto.

"Great _.  Except I don’t even know what to apologize_ for _.’_

 _“So_ ask _,”_ Ignis said _._

 _“You can’t be serious.”_ Gladiolus scoffed.

 _“Fine._ Don’t _ask.”_

 _“What’s wrong with asking?”_ Noct frowned.  It seemed like a simple enough way to get a solution. 

 _“_ Because,”Prompto explained as-a-matter-of-factly _, “if I know women, and I_ do _, and if I know women who’ve held grudges against me, and I_ do,  _you can’t just go up to them and ‘_ ask’ _what you did wrong, because then that becomes_ two  _things you did wrong.  You ‘_ had to ask’ _.  She’ll be even more pissed that you forgot in the first place.  Game over man.  Take it from one who’s got experience in this sort of thing.”_

_“That’s so…petty.”_

“ _It’s white matter,”_ Prompto said, as if it explained everything.

_“You mean grey matter.”_

_“No I mean white matter. You know how grey matter’s for smarts, right?”_ Noct nodded (or rather, could not believe he was nodding).  “ _Well white matter’s for memory.  And women have a lot more of these cells floating around in their pretty little heads than us.  It’s why they hold grudges so much—they just naturally got a bigger storage capacity for remembering.  Think exabytes.”_

 _“And it’s_ really _such a mystery why you’re still single,”_ Ignis commented.

 _“Oh let’s not make this about me,”_ Prompto grinned. 

 _“Noct I think you should still ask,”_ Ignis said _.  “_ Then _apologize later.”_

“ _Right_ ,” Gladiolus chuckled.  “ _Because she’s totally going to let go of the teeny tiny detail that he_ forgot  _in the first place.”_

_“Well at least he’ll know afterward what it is he did or didn’t do.”_

_“You want him to just jump in blind?”_ Prompto scoffed. 

“ _Like hell I’m gonna do that,”_ Noct agreed.

Ignis eyed them like they were complete morons.   _“Look: you want to get to the bottom of this, don’t you?  So just ask.  Working things out isn’t about finding out ‘who started it’ and getting even.  It’s about not to being a complete ass and deciding that salvaging the relationship is more important than anything else.”_

 _“Whose side are you_ on _?”_ Noct grumbled.  Though even as he said it he had a pretty good idea.  Before they officially became an item his father had asked Ignis to be a good ambassador and show the L’Cie the world they had saved.  And Light and Ignis had gotten along very well—so well that whenever he saw them together Noct sometimes doubted that they'd had a purely platonic relationship. She never seemed to get angry at Ignis the way she did him.  Actually, she never got angry with Ignis period. It was like the man had some sort of Insider's Guide to staying on her good side. Somedays when things got rocky he even pathetically entertained the notion that perhaps one of the reasons she wasn't involved with Ignis was because the latter had loyally stepped aside. 

 _“Noct,”_ Ignis said, bringing him back to life.  “ _Every relationship goes through a rough patch at some point or another.  This could be yours.”_

_“So…what do I do?”_

_“I’m done repeating myself.”_

_Just ask.  Yeah.  Right._ Noct thought, returning to reality. He watched her a few moments more, and then made his move.  It wasn’t a smart one, but then he never really was when he was around her.

* * *

Light felt his hands settle firmly on her waist, drawing her against him until the cotton of his sweatpants pressed against the backs of her legs. Shirtless, his body heat seemed to seep through her, right into her bones; warm and very inviting.  She closed her eyes as he kissed her tenderly on the cheek. 

“Hi.” 

“Hi yourself,” she replied lightly, fighting to keep his hands from drifting elsewhere.  He snickered at the effort, but thankfully decided to behave.   _For the time being_ , she thought. 

“I wasn’t expecting you back so early.  When did you get in?”

Light shrugged.   “Around four.”

Noct was incredulous.  “And you’re  _still_  up?  Maybe I should give up coffee too.”

“It’s the different time zones,” Light explained.  “I’m not sleepy at all.”

His lips descended, peppering kisses on her neck.  “ _I_  could give you a reason to be,” he murmured suggestively in between. 

She turned around in his arms. “Don’t you have a meeting?”

Noct rolled his eyes.  “I always have meetings.” He leaned in but she pushed him away gently.

He rolled his eyes. "What."

“With your  _father?_ ” she emphasized.  “The  _King_?”

His lids flickered down along her nightgown, amber gaze lingering on the mounds of her breasts.  He tightened his arms around her. “He’ll get over it.”

“No, he  _won’t_.”

“Okay he won't," Noct conceded.  "But I  _am_  his only heir.”  He bent his head.

Light turned away at the last moment and his lips grazed her cheek instead. 

“Tease,” he mumbled against her skin. 

“I’m not feeling well.”

He leaned back and looked at her.  “ _Really_.”

Light lowered her eyes to the signet ring hanging on a long silver chain around his neck.  “Really.”

“You’ve been saying that a lot lately,” he remarked, rubbing her arms.

“Because it's true."   _Technically._ "And anyway, if you get sick, you can’t take care of the both of us.” She finished lamely. 

“Let’s put my immunity to the test then,” he said, tilting her chin upward.  His lips brushed against hers, softly at first, and then more purposefully, making her toes curl. 

“Noct—” her breath hitched in her throat as he started kissing along her jawline and back to her lips.  

“Noct, stop I…I have a doctor’s appointment.  I— _mmph._ ”

His mouth opened on hers in a deep, drugging kiss that elicited a moan from her traitorous body. Encouraged by the sound and her enthusiastic response, his hands started sliding the straps of her nightgown slowly down her shoulders.  As if being snapped out of a trance she broke off from the kiss, hastily readjusting the straps and trying to catch her breath. She rested her hands on his chest, unable to meet his gaze.  

“You can't be serious.”

"I have to leave in five minutes."

“Challenge accepted." He swooped in for another kiss.

“Noct—”

His tone was firm.  “You’re rescheduling,” he said, kissing her again.  His hands started roaming again, sliding up her waist.

“I  _can’t_ I—AAAAH”

The moment he cupped her breasts, panic overcame her and she shoved him hard enough to make him stumble backward against the kitchen island behind him. 

He frowned.  “Okay…” he said slowly.  He tried to take a step toward her. 

She reached for the nearest object—a knife?—and pointed it at him shakily.  “I said back off!” And then before he could do or say anything more, she high-tailed it upstairs and locked herself in their bedroom. 

 

 

*  *  *

In the Caelum library, Prompto was laughing like King Regis was going enact a ban against it tomorrow.  Dabbing away the tears that had pooled in the corners of his eyes, he shook his head in disbelief.   

“She passed up wild sex for a doctor's appointment? Noct, no offense but,  _what the hell did you do?_ ”

“I don’t  _know_ ,” the prince snapped, uncharacteristically flustered for once.  “It’s driving me  _insane_.  One moment she’s into it, the next she’s an A-Class witch.  I don’t get her at all.  Last week I accidentally knocked over a glass and she started yelling at me."

"Noct, everyone yells when they're angry."

"Not in a dead language they don't.”   

Prompto leaned forward in his seat, riveted. “What’d she say?”

Noct rolled his eyes and did his best imitation of her.  “ _It’s all your fault’_ , ‘ _it’s all your fault’_ , ‘ _I hate you’, ‘I hate you_ ,’—something like that."

" _Huh_."

"If  _that’s_  not bad enough, I got a call from  _Occuria’s_  yesterday.  _Still_  nothing.”

“It could be a sign you know,” Prompto said thoughtfully, adding sugar to his coffee.

“A sign,” Noct scoffed.  “Come on.”

“ _Always_  the cynic,” the blonde sighed.  “I’m serious: aren’t you glad you’re discovering this side of her early on when the stakes have just gotten higher?”

“It’s just a rough patch.”   _Every relationship goes through a rough patch._

“ _Some_  rough patch,” Prompto snorted.  “Just because that nerd’s got the highest IQ in the room doesn’t mean he’s always right.  How's a guy who hardly makes time to date manage to get more credibility than a guy who  _does_?”  Noct looked at him expectantly.  “Shut up.  What I’m saying is you’re not seeing the bigger picture because you’re so friggin’ whipped.”

“I’m  _not_ whipped.”

“Sure.  But let’s think about it,” he began to count off his fingers “she’s  _always_  fighting with you these days; gets pissed off at  _every_  single thing you do, she’s  _not_ having sex with you anymore; she’s purposefully  _avoiding_  you so she doesn’t have to answer  _why,_  now she’s suddenly throwing herself into her work? Noct, it’s so obvious what’s happening here.”

“Sorry I don’t have my copy of ‘Female Distress Signals’ on me right now.  What page was that again?”

Prompto looked at him solemnly.  “She's cheating on you, man.”

“Nice try.  I know you guys hate each other.”

“ _Hey_  I resent that—I’m just looking out for you.  Those are the signs so take it as a warning.  Some of us are not that lucky.”

For a long while the Caelum heir sat silent.  Then he exhaled and vanished, leaving a cloud of crystal dust twinkling in his wake.

It was time for a second opinion.

For some reason the receptionist couldn’t bring herself to look him in the eye.  “I-I’m sorry Mr.  Scientia is in the middle of a meeting right now.  It probably won’t take more than thirty minutes.” 

A third opinion then, Noct decided. 

“Y-you’re welcome to wait—”

He vanished before she could finish that sentence.

 

 

* * *

“Can we go to Allonautilus, please, please  _please_?”

“No.”

“Can you really summon Bahamut while falling from the sky?”

“Yes.”

“So Lightning really did shoot the crystal with her gunblade because throwing it turned out to be a bad idea?”

“ _Yes_.”

“Sazh says it’s impossible to grow a chocobo in your hair.”

“A chocobo's a pretty big freaking bird, kid.”

“But I  _saw him_.”

“You pinched Light's chocolates again, didn’t you?”

“Erm…can I play outside?”

“No.”

“Aww why not?”

“Because you didn't save any for me.”

The eight year-old sat resigned beside her at the table. He picked a lemon from the basket of lemons(?) and rolled it back and forth in front of him. “Yeul peed in her bed again last night.”

“Yeul’s three.”

“Why do girls pee so much?  Caius says—”

“Noel,” Fang closed her eyes.  “Do you  _ever_  shut up?”

“Not when I’m awake,” the boy replied cheerfully. 

“ _Great_.”

Lightning finally reappeared in the kitchen, laughing quietly.  “Noel, Cor’s outside.”

“Thank  _Bhunivelze_ ,” Fang muttered under her breath.

Noel made a face.  “Already?”

“Sorry.”

Outside, a car horn tooted.  Snapped to attention, the little boy jumped out of his seat and began scampering about in the living room, quickly shoving his toys in his schoolbag.  The car horn sounded again, this time pointedly. 

“I’m coming, I’m  _coming_!” The little cyclone was halfway out the door when he stopped in his tracks.

“Hey Lightning, you’re going to the Etro’s Eve ball tonight right? You're going to love Secret Santa.”

"How do you know that?"

"Oh, I just do," Noel grinned.

The moment the door closed behind him Fang let out a sigh of relief.  She massaged her temples while Lightning went over to the fridge and poured herself a glass of ginger ale. 

“I really don’t know why you like having him over. I feel like I’ve just come out of a PSICOM Inquisition.”

“He’s good company.”

Fang huffed.  “Debateable.”

“Drink?” Lightning offered.  

“Yes.  I’ll take all the tequila you have.”

“Sorry, all out.”

Groaning her disappointment Fang reached for a lemon from the fruit basket in front of her and tossed it between her hands.  “Then  _why_  do you have all these lying around?”

“I like the smell of them,” Lightning answered, returning to the table with her glass and taking tiny sips from it. 

 _And they tell_ me _I’m the crazy one,_ Fang thought. 

“Thanks for watching Noel by the way.  Did he give you a hard time?”

“The  _questions_  that boy can ask.  I’m surprised Leonis hasn’t already stabbed himself in the head.” 

Light smiled slightly. “Noel’s at a ‘curious’ stage, Cor tells me.”

“He tells you that because he doesn’t have a bloody clue,” Fang laughed.

“The kid just likes hearing about our ‘rebellion against Cocoon.’  He's morbidly fascinated with the whole 'former l'cie' thing.  It’s why he stays over so much.  I don’t know how many times I’ve told him the story.  He idolizes you; you know.”

Fang rolled her eyes, ignoring the strange squishy feeling welling up inside her.  “Whatever. How about you?  You okay?”

Light looked surprised by the question.  “I’m fine.”

She narrowed her eyes at her, not believing that for a second.  “What about Caelum?” 

The other woman retracted away, a little unnerved by Fang’s sudden focus.  “Why do you ask?” 

“Apparently,  _you’re_  playing the ‘hard-to-get’ card a little  _too_  hard.”

Light glared at her.

“ _See_?” Fang laughed.  “That’s what  _I_  thought too.  I mean, it’s not playing hard to get if you pull a knife on them, right?” she teased, nudging Lightning’s foot under the table.

Light suddenly gripped her wrist, eyes wide.  “ _What?_ Who told you  _that_?”

“Not so much told as bragged,” the Pulsian said, laughing at her expression.  “Blondie really doesn’t like you, does he?”

The grip on her wrist loosened and the pink-haired woman slumped in her chair. 

“So…you’re  _not_  playing hard to get,” Fang confirmed.

“Take a wild guess,” Light snapped.

“You’re just….” an impish smile crept across her lips “withholding sex just for the heck of it.”

“I am  _not—_ ”

“Hey, don’t get me wrong,” Fang held up her hands “I am  _all about_  spicing up relationships, but tell me what it is you’re trying to achieve here.  You some kind of a closet sadist or something?” 

“I’m not trying to achieve  _anything_!” Lightning said hotly, face reddening.  "And I'm not a sadist."

“Well that’s what it looks like,” Fang said, poking her.  “Spit it out.  You’re wasting my day-off.”

“You can’t tell anyone _._ ” 

“Do I look like a blonde big-mouth to you?”

The woman looked at her, then stared down her hands, almost as if ashamed.  Fang understood immediately. 

“Aww Light you didn’t,” she said softly. “Not  _you_ of all people.” 

“Didn’t what,” Light repeated hollowly, gaze still fixated on her lap.

“You know… _cheat_?”

The pink-haired woman’s head shot up.  “ _What?_ I’m not cheating on him.”

Fang tapped her foot expectantly. 

“Well I’m  _not_.”

“Hey,” Fang held up her hands “no judgement.  Is it Ignis?  Sorry we've all just kind of wondered.”

“I’m  _not_ cheating on him _,_ ” Light growled, face turning purple now. 

“Then why do you look like you’ve got a big dirty secret?”

“I’m not cheating on him!” Light exploded, knocking the fruit basket off the table, making Fang wince and sending the lemons scattering. “How the hell can I even  _look_  at another man when  _he’s_  the bastard who got me—” she froze mid-sentence, and then abruptly started busying herself with picking up the fruit off the floor. The former Bahamut l’cie slowly put a hand to her mouth. 

“Shut up,” Light said quietly.

“He knocked you up…”

Light dropped the lemons back into the basket, none too gently.

“ _Pregnant_ …” Fang said, somewhat dazed.

“Yes I think we’ve established that,” she snapped.

 _Pregnant?_ The Pulsian just shook her head at the absurdity of it.   _Well, that explains the lifetime supply of ginger ale in the fridge._ She started chuckling.  To think; Lightning Farron, the most disciplined out of all of them…

“You  _slut_!” Fang accused, pointing at her with a laugh.  “You dirty little slut!”. She paused suddenly, a triumphant grin spreading across her face. 

Light groaned and collapsed back into her chair, burying her face in her arms.  “What?”

“Perhaps ‘little’ is a tad generous.” 

Light’s voice was muffled. “I  _knew_  I shouldn’t have told you.”

“Well technically,  _you_  blurted it out—”

“Shut up _._ ”

“ _You_  shut up,” Fang retorted, before face-palming.  She was a mix of euphoria and exasperation now.  “Damn it.  I  _knew_ there was something off about you!  I just assumed you ate some of your own cooking again.  I mean, you're not even  _showing_!”

“I  _know_ , thank Bhunivelze” Light said, sounding relieved.

“Does Serah know?”

Light looked up and grimaced. “She tells Snow  _everything_.”

“Anyone else then?”

Light shifted uncomfortably under Fang’s scrutiny and muttered a name under her breath.

Fang gaped at her.  “You told _him_?”

“He figured it out and then he just came up to me and asked,” Light replied, shaking her head.  “Nothing gets past him.  And now I get a text from him every day saying something along the lines of ‘Tell him’.”

Fang looked her over, shaking her head. 

“What?”

 _Noct is going to explode when he hears Ignis knew before him._ “Nothing.  Those missions must give you a real workout-you're not even showing,” she said instead.

“I know,” Light said, hugging her stomach self-consciously.

“Shouldn’t you be staying away from fighting though?  It could be dangerous I mean; you  _do_  want to keep it, don’t you?”

“Of course I do!”

The unusual high-pitch of her tone made Fang cover her ears.  “Light I am  _right_   _next to you_.  There’s no need to yell.”

“Sorry,” Light ran a hand through her hair.  “Everything’s just gone haywire: my emotions; my body.  I’m horny  _every_ time Noct so much as touches me _,_ I cry when I’m happy, I get angry all the time and for  _no_  reason at all—”

“—you  _always_  get angry for no reason at all—” 

“—last week I put the butter in the shower and soap in the butter dish and I had to lie and tell him it was a  _Pulsian_  custom for ‘good luck’.”

"…bitch—”

“—and then the boss made me take a few days off work when  _they_  found out and  I had to check into a hotel for that period of time because I didn't want Noctis asking why I was home so early and—”

“Wait just a bloody minute.  Your _boss_ knows?”

“Not because I told him.  I didn’t even know I was… _you_   _know—_ ”

“What, pregnant?”

“ _Shut up_.  Until I got sick after an assignment.  They told me to see a doctor so I saw Hope—I didn’t think it was a big deal.  But  _then_  the idiot got worried that I wouldn’t take his advice and went and ratted me out.  I’ve been saddled with a desk job for weeks now.”

“So all the travelling you’ve been doing is just…”

“Random hotels—just to keep up pretences.”

“Pretences?” Fang frowned.  “Why would you need to keep up pretences when…”

Light crossed her arms and looked at her expectantly. 

Fang took a deep breath for the both of them.  

 

 

* * *

“Caelum, I am under the distinct impression that you think your teeth are indestructible,” Stella said disapprovingly. 

To spite her, he grabbed another biscotti and with his gaze still level with hers, crunched through it noisily. In retaliation she moved the plate closer to her side of the small coffee table between them then stretched out on her couch and went back to looking through a pamphlet.  In the armchair across from her he scowled and tried to ignore the  _Lulu’s Magic_ models parading lingerie on the pages.

“Is King Regis pressuring you again?”

He grunted out something unintelligible.

“Don’t talk with your mouth full.”

“I  _said_ ,” Noct replied sullenly “‘not any more than usual.”

“So why are you here then?  Not that I don’t appreciate the visit, but we’ve never exactly been more than ‘friendly enemies’.” 

Noct inhaled through his nose, trying to calm himself and swallow his pride.  Fuck this was humiliating.  “I…need advice,” he grounded out.   

“You don’t sound very ‘needy’,” Stella remarked.  She went back to browsing.  “What did you do this time?  Hmm, red's really in this season...”

“I didn’t do  _anything_.”

“That’s what you said last time.”

“Stella I’m  _serious_ ,” Noct snapped.  “I have no clue what the fuck’s going on.  In all honesty I actually  _wish_  we were fighting—it’d be so much easier to figure out this shit.  She’s been acting so weird around me.  The way she looks at me some days…” he pushed his knuckles into the space between his eyebrows, feeling a lump rise in his throat.  “Stella, it’s...it’s the guilty ones that always make the first move, right?” 

_She's cheating on you._

“I suppose,” Stella answered carefully.  “What happened?”

He told her everything: the excuses, the brush-offs, the extended periods away from home and—he could not believe it himself, to his chagrin—the ‘anti-sex’ policy his girlfriend seemed to have in place.  Stella said nothing, only nodded and listened.  By the time he was done, the princess of Tenebrae was sitting up in her sofa with her chin tucked into her palm, her expression thoughtful;  _Lulu’s Magic_ pamphlet out of sight. 

“So,” Noct stared into the cup of tea that had somehow ended up in his hands.   “Are things really as bad as I say they are, or am I just finally losing it?”

“She’s definitely hiding something, I’ll give you that.”

“And?” He knew he wasn’t going to like the answer, but shit, he  _did_  come all this way.

“I’m assuming it has to be pretty unforgivable if she’s gone through such lengths to hide it.  And not for a few days or a week, but almost two  _months_.”

“You think she’s cheating on me.”

“I didn’t say that.”

“Light’d never cheat.”

“Fine.  But there has to be a reason why she’s avoiding you, right?"

"She's  _not_  the  _type_ ," Noct growled.  The thought of Light actually—

He carefully set down his cup, lest he gave into the urge to hurl it against the nearest wall.  The last thing he needed was another woman pulling a knife on him.

"You know, Caelum, if she’s the person I assume she is, she’s definitely going to try to find a way to smooth things over when she finally tells you what she's been up to.  A present or something.”

"I can't be bribed Stella-I already have everything I want.”  _Even if she won't let me anywhere near her._

“ _Or something_  then,” Stella compromised, planting her chin in her knuckles and studying him with renewed interest.

“What the hell are you talking about?”

She only looked too happy to explain.  “Your sex life, Caelum. Or rather lack of,” she added quietly.

“She’d never stoop that low,” Noct growled. 

Stella raised an eyebrow. 

"She  _wouldn't_."

 

 

* * *

“You  _idiot_!  _Why_  haven’t you told him?”  Fang wanted to shake Light hard enough to make her teeth rattle but refrained in case it hurt the foetus. 

“ _Because_ ,” Light glared “when we first started out, he told me ‘forever’ was the last thing on his mind.”

“I can see that,” Fang snickered. 

“ _I_  was the one who messed up, okay?” Light snapped, before running a hand through her hair anxiously.  “There was this one night where he—”

Fang held up a hand.  “Skip to the end.”

Light’s gaze levelled with hers.  “I’m allergic to those pills. I have to rely on him to...take measures.”

“So the blame falls on your stupid boyfriend then,” she waved it off.  “Honestly, what the hell are you worrying about?  You silly rabbits can figure it out together.  This is as much his responsibility as it is yours.”  Fang paused, suppressing a laugh.  She didn’t know which she was talking about: the baby or the  _making of_. 

“You’re not getting it,” Light insisted.  “ _I_ was the one who pushed him.  We had a fight and it was over something so stupid, but one thing led to another and…” she flushed, staring down at her lap. 

Fang whistled.  “Go Caelum.”

“Shut up.”

“You were saying?”

“I used pregnancy tests.   Nothing came up positive so we didn’t worry about it.  Until…”

“Light, you  _have_  to tell him. He’s the father—he deserves to know. He’s one who made you move in with him in the first place, isn’t he? Far out if that’s not a big fat neon sign saying ‘ _I want you forever’_  then I don’t know what is,” Fang said, shaking her head. 

“Fang, look at me,” Light deadpanned, “Noct  _does not_ want kids—he was  _very_  adamant about that.  After that night he fucking lost it when I told him I couldn’t take the pills. How am I supposed to climb over  _that_  hurdle? I can't—”

"Hey, don't cry, it's not the end of the world."

Light wiped the tears away hastily. "It’s my stupid hormones."

Fang squeezed her wrist.   “Hey.  I’m here for you—you know that, right?”

“Thanks.”

“ _So_ ,” she added with a conspiratorial grin, “if it does go south and Caelum turns out to be a real dickhead, I  _can_  still steal my lance back from the museum.”

“Why can't you just get a new one?”

“It's sentimental.  And I’ll get Snow and the others to pitch in,” Fang smiled.  “Family sticks together. I think us l’cie are due for an encore anyway.”

Light seemed to cheer up at the notion; even laughed. 

“That’s the spirit,” Fang encouraged, rubbing her back.

“You know this feels a lot worse than when the whole world was against us.  I'd take on Orphan a hundred times over than have to face up to him.”

“At least try to give him the benefit of the doubt.  You just need to sit down calmly and rationally like two adults and talk this out.”

“How do I do that?”

“You sit down calmly and rationally—”

“ _Fang_.”

“ _Joking_ ,” Fang grinned, punching her playfully in the shoulder.  “I still can’t  _believe_  you waited till you were almost at the end of your first trimester to finally grow the lady balls to tell someone.  Intuition doesn’t count, by the way, so I’m glad I was the first.  Why didn’t you say anything?  I mean, I know ‘ _why_   _you didn’t say anything_ ’ but this is heavy stuff—even for  _you_.”

“I thought I could handle it,” Light admitted quietly.  “I raised Serah on my own, didn’t I?”

“Well, yeah, but you didn’t  _give birth_  to her,” Fang pointed out.  “That’s different.”

“I know.  Believe me I know.  I can’t believe I’m admitting this to you, but I’m scared.  Really fucking scared.  Shit I’m crying again.” She used her fingers to try to dab the tears away.

With a groan Fang stood, pulling out her car keys and phone.  After sending a quick text she glanced at the pink-haired mess in front of her and pulled her up.  “Come on Cheaper by the Dozen; let’s go shopping.”

“Fang what part of ‘I’m really fucking scared’ did you not understand?”

“I have an idea, okay?”

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Because it's  _so_  gonna work.”

 

 

* * * 

“ _There_  you are!”

Gladiolus jumped from the couch and pulled Noct into a headlock, grinding his knuckles into his hair.  Uttering a low curse the latter shoved him off and flopped onto the couch, glaring at the TV screen.  He mumbled something about 'not knowing shit' then grabbed the TV remote  _and_ G's beer and began surfing; his expression absolutely livid. For the second time in his life Gladiolus let it slide.  He’d just spent a whole hour fighting a losing argument against a smartass about whose turn it was to tell King Regis his son had gone AWOL. 

“Hey genius,” Gladiolus called over his shoulder, to the office door opened by a tiny crack.  “He’s okay.”

“Just like I said he’d be,” Ignis called back, bored. 

“Liar.  He was on the verge of submitting his resignation,” Gladiolus said, winking at Noct.  He went over to the fridge and came back with two new beers.  “Where’d you disappear to anyway?”

“Stella’s,” the name came out on a growl.  Noct sculled the rest of Gladiolus’ beer, then reached for the spare.  His eyes remained crimson and focused on the documentary he’d landed on. 

_“During copulation with the female behemoth, the male gives off a—”_

“Oh fuck off,” Noct snapped.

Gladiolus caught a glimpse of a steamy love scene on a Baron soap opera, a news report about a protest against the Archades Empire, and an advert about a sexy lingerie sale before they finally stopped on a cooking channel.

"Thinks she's  _so_  clever," the Lucis heir muttered, taking another swig. "Where does she get the fucking  _nerve_ to tell me..."

Overhead the lights began to flicker. Gladiolus knew it had nothing to do with faulty wires.  He purposefully took a long swig of his beer when the bookshelves started shaking as well.

“Stop that,” Ignis snapped. 

“Make me,” Noct muttered, tossing the remote aside.  Gladiolus picked it up and flipped back to the soap opera.  The ruckus stopped. 

“Did you  _really_  teleport all the way to Tenebrae?” Gladiolus asked as exaggerated moans escaped the television. 

“Yeah,” Noct’s tone was clipped.

Gladiolus whistled, impressed. 

_"R-Rosa I—"_

_"Shh.  Just love me, Kain..."_

“Noct, that was dangerous and stupid,” Ignis scolded.  “You’re lucky you’re still in one piece after all that.”

“Well if you weren’t so busy kissing up to dignitaries, I probably wouldn’t have had to,” Noct spat.

“Noctis  _Self-Absorbed_  Caelum," Ignis stated briskly "I have a  _job_  for which I am extremely grateful for and am paid  _handsomely_  not to mess up. So you can  _believe_  me when I tell you contrary to popular belief, my world does  _not_  revolve around your love life.”

“Here we go,” Gladiolus muttered.  He tilted his head back and started drinking.

“Your world doesn’t revolve around  _anything_ ,” Noct shot back, switching the TV off.  The lights began to flicker once more.  “You’re empty and hollow and you have no  _soul_.”

“Oh, I don't know, I think I would rather be soulless than strung out and sexually frustrated because I'm an utter moron who takes advice from an even bigger moron.”

Gladiolus clamped a hard hand on Noct’s shoulder and stopped him from getting out of his seat.  If looks could massacre.

“Iggy’s just angry because trade negotiations with the Shinra Group soured.  Your father was really counting on him to pull through but he messed up the presentation because he was busy worrying about you,” he whispered.

Noct relented and picked up the remote again. 

“And forced to jerk off in the shower,” Ignis added.

Stone cold silence.

Gladiolus looked from the expression on Noct's face to the shards of crystal materializing in the air; twinkling and emitting a familiar, dangerous hum.  He shrugged and let go, watching Noct stalk over to the smartass’' office.

 _Better him than me_ , he thought, raising his bottle to his lips _._

 

 

* * * 

Light glanced up apprehensively at the large  _30% Off_ sign, and then to the  _Occuria’s_ branch a few stores away.

“Why can’t we just go  _there_?”  

“Oh  _please_ ,” Fang said, tossing her hair and shamelessly giving a passing guy the once-over.  “Like a fancy watch is going to clear the rubble you make after the bomb drops.”

"Fang this is a bad idea."

"You're right," she smirked. "He's not gonna be able to keep his hands off you after this."

She flushed an even darker shade of red.  “I'm  _going_  to Occuria's.” 

Fang put her hands on her shoulders and twisted her back to the shop; fingers squeezing hard as if trying to squeeze the hesitation out of her. 

“Look you stupid, hormonal woman, here's the facts: it has been almost  _two_  months since you guys last had sex—a man can only be best friends with his hand for so long until he starts craving the real thing again.”

“Louder Fang, I don’t think the people in the next town heard you—”

“So I don’t give an adamantoise’s  _arse,_ ” Fang continued vehemently, poking her in the chest for good measure “how high of a pedestal you’re willing to put him on—I don’t care if it reaches past the fucking  _moon—_ thebottom line is that Noct is a male with a libido.  That means, "she yanked her thumb toward the store sign.  "that like  _all_  males he has needs can be exploited—pregnancy or no pregnancy.  You hold a lot more cards than you think.”

“I’m going to be sick.”

“You know," Fang mused quietly "I don’t know if this is true or not, so you can do the investigating, but I’ve heard guys in the Corps say sex with pregnant women is a  _serious_  turn-on; ‘the Mona Lisa of sex’ one guy aptly put it.”

Light put her hands to her mouth as her stomach began going for gold in internal gymnastics. 

Fang scowled at her.  “We just came back from the bathroom about  _fifteen_  minutes ago.”

“I’ll vomit on your sandals then.”

“Bitch,” Fang muttered.  She grabbed her arm and began dragging her along.  "Come on, I know the owner.  There’s a bathroom we can use inside.”

 

 

* * * 

Prompto was sitting on a bench making quick work of a cheeseburger and people-watching when he spotted a scene taking place outside the local  _Lulu’s Magic_.  Normally, he would have ignored it, but come on: it was _Lulu's Magic_   _and_ he knew those legs from anywhere. 

_Lightning Farron’s legs._

Those same legs now strode purposefully into the store that put men's libidos in overdrive.  Smiling widely he reached into his pocket.  

 

 

* * *

As Noct hit the wall behind him, Ignis grabbed the front of his shirt and slammed him against it again, making his molars rattle.  When he opened his eyes Gladiolus was there, finishing what looked to be his third bottle since their throw down started. 

“Are you done yet?” he asked.

Noct tilted to the side and spat out blood.  “I’m just getting started.”

Ignis slammed him into the wall again.  "What the hell is your problem?"

 _You are my problem,_  Noct thought acidly.  Like hell he was going to admit  _that_ , though.  “Getting tired Iggy?”

A familiar, insistent beep made Ignis stop halfway from cold-cocking Noct in the jaw(again). Rolling his eyes, he released him and stumbled back to the couch, stepping over shattered glass and his books scattered on the floor.  He pressed his fingers to the welt on his forehead from where Noct smacked him with the TV remote and muttered a  _Cura_ spell under his breath.  Noct’s phone continued to ring. 

“Yep, we’re gonna need some ice for the ladies,” Gladiolus muttered, on his way to the kitchen. 

“Noct answer your phone,” Ignis said.  “She hates being put to voicemail.”

“It’s Prompto,” Noct grumbled, pushing the call button anyway. “What.”

 _“Did you get it?”_ Prompto asked eagerly. 

“Did I get what?”

 _“Where_ are _you? You sound like you’ve been running.”_

“Did I get  _what_?” Noct repeated, taking an ice-cold beer from Gladiolus and holding it to his bruised jaw.  He’d do the whole Cura thing when his head was clearer.  

“ _You sly dog.  Man, I’d bow down to you if you weren’t already royalty.…”_

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“ _Check your messages.”_

He scowled at the subject of the photo.  “You’re spying on her?"

"Hey man I was minding my own business okay? I thought I'd just give you a heads up that's all—pun  _veery_  intended."

"You’re lucky I’m out of juice right now or I’d teleport right over there and kick your teeth in.”

_“Guess Lightning's the not only one PMSing in your house."_

"Prompto."

 _"Look at the_  sign,  _dude_."

“Thirty-per cent off.  Don’t miss out,” Noct read in a dull monotone.  “So?”

 _“Thirty-per cent off from_ where _you dumb handle_. _”_

Noct took a long swig while he carefully adjusted the image on the touchscreen.  He had no idea why he was humouring the neanderthal but the moment he read  _Lulu’s Magic_  he choked on his beer and started coughing. The phone landed on the ground, going to straight to speaker.

Prompto’s voice was smug.  “ _Looks_   _like Etrosday isn't the only thing coming early, huh Noct?"_

_Something there's no way you're not gonna love._

Noct quickly grabbed his phone off the floor and cut off the connection, feeling a sickening dread beginning to pool in the pit of his stomach.

"She must  _really_  love you," Ignis mused.

Gladiolus clapped him on the back, jolting him awake. “Luckiest son of a bitch on the planet right now.  Rigging the secret Santa:  _double_   _win_.” 

 

 

* * *

"So," said Jihl, rifling through the racks with a critical eye.  "How much shit is she in?"

Fang said nothing and kept tapping her feet in rhythm with the upbeat techno music playing in the background. 

"She's pregnant isn't she?”  

“What?  No she’s  _not—”_

“Don't even  _try_  to bullshit your way out of this one Oerba Yun Fang. You're talking to the queen here," Jihl said.

“How'd you figure?"  

Jihl looked at her cynically and then continued her search.  "You mean aside from the fact that she's currently retching up a storm in  _my_  bathroom?"

"Heh.  Good point."

"It wasn’t too hard,” Jihl said, in her trademark snooty way.  “This  _is_  miss ‘moral compass’ we're talking about.  Who would she cheat on Noctis with anyway,  _Scientia_?"

"It's not too crazy to assume."

" _Please_ ," Jihl said, moving onto another rack. "Scientia is gay ten ways till Saturday."

"Iggy is  _not_ gay," Fang said, ignoring the adamant looks being thrown their way.  "I have it on good authority."

Jihl pulled out a bold-looking crimson set and added it to the lot under her arm. "Sleeping with him proves nothing."

Fang caught the resentment in her voice and smirked.  _Pay dirt, Jihl Nabaat_.  "And who made you such an expert?"

Jihl's lips tightened as she added a black set along with a dark see-through violet that looked quite promising.  She tucked the items under her arm and Fang followed as they moved to the next rack. 

"Come on, tell me,” Fang said coaxingly. “I promise not to laugh…too loudly."

“Rosch."

Fang groaned. " _I_  could have told you  _that_.  So when did you two...erm…"

"After graduation." Jihl shrugged at the incredulous expression on Fang’s face “I was in a good mood, sue me."

"What went wrong?"

"He moaned our supervisor's name."

" _Beautiful_."

Light finally appeared, pale blue eyes darting about apprehensively.  “What the hell is everyone  _staring_  at?” she muttered, before her eyes fell upon the pile in Jihl’s possession.  She scowled. “What the hell is  _that_?”

" _These_ ," Jihl replied, dumping the items in her arms, "are all half price—on me.  Just think of it as my thanks for killing my asshole of a boss."

Light blanched as she plucked out the see-through violet number from the mess of silk and lace.

Jihl put her glasses back on, and tossed her hair, making a start for the front of the store to greet the next customer walking in. Her tone was as smug as the grin on Fang's face.   "Don't trip on your way to the cash register," she called sweetly over her shoulder.

Light glared murderous daggers at her back. 

Fang supposed it was better than actually having daggers in the vicinity.  

 

 

* * *

Deep in sleep, Noct’s dreams turned erotic.  Behind closed eyes he saw Lightning touching him, stroking him, kindling an already growing fire within. 

“ _Noct_ ,” she whispered. 

It was not her voice that woke him up, but the tingling sensation caused from a weight settling atop of his thighs.  Slowly he opened his eyes.  His fantasy was a reality—albeit without the sexy lingerie ( _and_  still fully clothed, but he’d take care of that later).  Light was straddling him, firm bare legs pressed along his while she coaxed him further awake with a series of kisses that had him gripping her hips and grinding up against her by the end of it. 

He raised an eyebrow at her as they came up for air.  Usually she was content to let him lead during their love-making.  This newfound initiative she had taken was refreshing and hot as hell—not  _at all_  like the Light he knew…

He relaxed against the headrest and tasted more of her as her tongue darted in his mouth and stroked his; enjoyed the soft moans she made while he began unclasping her bra.

The Light he knew…

Noct froze. 

_Shit._

“What’s wrong?” 

Great, he had said that aloud.  “The party tonight,” he lied. 

She leaned down and kissed the shell of his ear, sending delicious shivers up his spine.  “We’ve got time.”

His eyes flickered to the clock hanging on the wall behind her.  Shit they did.  She was just sliding her hands under his shirt when he heard the doorbell ring.

“I-I’ll get it,” he vanished out from under her amidst her protests and half-ran, half stumbled his way to it.  He was so relieved he could have kissed the man standing on his doorstep. 

_Speaking of kissing…_

“Hey Light you should…probably get ready, huh?” he called over his shoulder, too chicken to face up to the icy glare she presently had trained on him.  He was pretty sure it wasn’t a metaphor when Fang said that look was capable of sending Long Gui scattering in the opposite direction. 

Taking the hint Light began stomping up the stairs, two at a time.  The courier winced as the echo from the bathroom door slamming shut reverberated throughout the entire house.  Noct kept his expression carefully composed throughout the whole ordeal.  He took the neatly wrapped box out of the courier’s hands and smiled diplomatically.

“Uh sorry about the delay…” began the courier awkwardly.  “This kind of thing never—”

“Where do I sign?” 

When he finally sat down at the kitchen table after tossing away the large cardboard box and the styrofoam, he stared at the tiny box and wondered what the hell he was getting into.  With a defeated groan, he searched through the contacts on his cell for the one number he had been avoiding until now and finally pressed the call button.  It was answered on the first ring.

“I need advice,” Noct began. 

“ _Should I be flattered or should I run you right through with my sword?”_

" _Dad_."

_"On what?”_

“On stuff.”

" _What kind of stuff?"_

"Just...you  _know_ ,  _stuff_."

King Regis sighed.  " _Son_ , _it really is a wonder how you've managed to hold on to Lightning for so long..."_

"Yeah," Noct agreed, thunking his head against the table. 

 

 

* * *

Against the Etrosday backdrop of tinsel and fairy lights, mistletoe and holly, pleasant jazz tunes and merry conversation, Light was a vision, the goddess Etro herself in a stunning red Alexandros gown that looked as if it had been painted on…

and her boyfriend was nowhere in sight. 

Actually, no, he  _was_  in sight—he was on the dancefloor waltzing (since when did  _he_ waltz?) with possibly every single female guest present, intently focused on the conversation between them.  As if he didn’t notice Light at all.   

Beside her, in her trademark dark blue, and unsurprisingly,  _very_  shit-faced, Fang winked as the server handed her a glassful of punch.   “Thanks love.”

The boy flushed scarlet and stared down at his feet.

“What’s that you’re drinking?” Light said, still not taking her eyes off the imbecile in front of her.   _When I get my hands on him I’m going to—_

“’S punch.”

“Punch.  Yes.  Exactly what I was thinking,” Light muttered. She held out her hand for the glass.  “Give it to me.”

“Nope,” Fang replied smugly.  “’S got alcohol.”

“Are you serious?”

“How about something healthier?”

Light glared at the cold glass of water held up in front of her. 

“There’s a bit of lemon in it,” Ignis added coaxingly.

She sighed, taking it.  “Thanks.”  When her eyes returned to the dance floor, she wasn’t sure if it was her hormones making her see things, but she could have sworn Noct had been glaring in their direction. 

“I tried the punch—you’re not missing out on anything, trust me,” Ignis said, looking at her apprehensively. 

Light went back to glowering at her idiot boyfriend.  “I really doubt that.”

“You haven’t told him?" 

“She told  _me_ ,” Fang told him cheerfully.

“And  _you_ went and told everyone else,” Ignis said.  He snatched her drink from her and sniffed at it suspiciously, before glaring at the server.  “Why is there vodka in this?”

Fang beamed proudly. “I bro my own.”

Light whirled around, furious.  “You  _what?”_

“She brought her own.” Ignis translated.  He gave the punch to the boy and waved him away. 

“You told _everyone_?” Light grabbed Fang by the arm.  "I can't  _believe_ you-"

“’-sept Noct,” Fang slurred, holding up two fingers.  “Cows on her.”

“At least she had enough sense for  _that_ ,” Ignis said disapprovingly.  He caught the drunk as she fell backward.  “I’ll…go find a broom closet to hide her in.  Will you uh, be alright?”

“Just get her out of my face,” Light snapped.  This whole thing was turning into an absolute nightmare.  “ _Unbelievable_ ,” she said to herself. 

“What is?” Noct asked, sliding his arms around her.  She elbowed him away—hard. 

“Ow!” he laughed “what was  _that_  for?”

She pointed a finger witheringly at him.  “Don’t.”

“Don't what?”

“Ho-ho-ho, ladies and gentlemen!” Prompto’s voice boomed from the stage.  "We’ve now reached our main event for the night: the Secret Santa exchange!  If you’d kindly find your special someone, we can all get this Etrosday underway!”

“Don’t what?” Noct asked again, following close on her heels.  His tone became exasperated.  “Where are you  _going_?”

“Oh, so now I’m visible to you am I?” Light said haughtily, throwing the balcony doors open and stepping out into the night. 

Calmly, he closed the doors behind him.  "Will you please tell me what's going on?"

Rather than answer him she folded her arms across her chest and glared. 

"I'm not a mind reader Light.  What the hell is your problem?”

“ _You_ are my problem!” Light burst out, ignoring the fact that she was now yelling in  _Chrysalian_  and that hormonal-rage-induced tears were streaming down her face.  She stepped forward and shoved him. 

"What the h-"

“ _All_  of this is your fault!    _All_  of it!  You were the one who made me move in with you because  _you_ wanted to prove that you wouldn’t be the one to walk away!  But you’re so full of  _shit_  Noctis Lucis Caelum!” she gestured at him wildly “because you don’t even  _want_ —I  _hate_  you!  You hear me?  I  _hate_  you!  I wish I’d never—No, don’t you  _dare_  touch me!” she cried, struggling against him while he hugged her tight, restricting her movements until she leaned into him at last.

"Noct..."

"Yeah."

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why are you still here?"

He was quiet for a long moment.  

"Noct," she said, hitting him lightly.

"You want me to say something romantic, don't you," he said with a sigh.  

"No, just the truth."

He shrugged.  "So ask."

"I don't really know _how_ to go about it, actually."

"Quit messing around."

"I'm serious--I really don't."

"...do I get any clues?"

"Clues?"

"Well, maybe I can figure it out myself."

She laughed.  "Doubt it."

"Just try me."

"Alright then.  The thing I've wanted to ask...I've wanted to ask you for a while now."

"Define 'a while'."

"A few months."

"Oh..." he said, sounding uncertain.  

"Want another hint?"

"I'm not sure that I do," Noct admitted, "but while we're on the subject of asking..."

"Yeah?"

"There's something I've kind of...well..." h e slipped a tiny box into her hands.  Light stiffened in his arms, registering.  She stepped slowly away from him.  

 

 

* * *

“W-what the hell is this?”

Okay,  _so_ not the reaction he was going for.  “Well this is awkward," he laughed nervously.  "Light I uh..."

_-SLAP-_

Noct blinked.  Once, twice.  Then he glared.  “What hell was  _that_ for?”

The PMS was back, and with a vengeance.  She pointed at him in that same infuriating way he hated so much. And he’d never admit it to  _anyone_ , not even her, but she never looked more beautiful to him in that moment.  She started hitting him.  

“You  _knew!_ ” she hissed in between hits “you knew all along, didn’t you!”

“Knew  _what_?” Noct caught her wrists.   _What is it with this woman!_   “That you’re a psycho?  Yeah, I do.  And you know what? I’m probably psycho too for still being here because you’re a  _real fucking asshole_ , you know that?”

“ _You’re_  the asshole!” she yelled back.  She wrenched out of his grasp and prodded him on the chest. “I bet  _daddy_ had to force you because you’re so full of—”

“No one’s forcing me, you moron!” Noct yelled, shaking her by the shoulders. “What the hell are you talking about!”

As if someone had suddenly doused her with Holy Water, the rage subsided. 

“You mean,” she began quietly, as if realizing.  “You  _don’t_  know?”

“Know  _what_?” Noct grumbled, but grateful they weren’t yelling at each other anymore.  Yelling was  _her_ thing, not his.

“How could you not even—” tears began streaming down her face “no one told you?”

“Told me what?  That you’re a total fucking—” his eyes widened in genuine disbelief as he was suddenly pulled into a bone-crushing hug.  _Etro I love her._

"I love you," she whispered.  His other shoulder started getting damp now.  "You _do_ love me, don't you?  I was so afraid of being wrong..."

“What is  _with_ you?” he snapped, fighting off a blush.  

“It's just you're always saying forever is overrated.”

“It  _is_.  No one lives that long.”

“Well  _I_  did—kind of…for a time.”

“…shut up.”

“I’ll do it,” she sniffled, pushing him back so she could look steadily into his eyes.  “I’ll marry you.”

He hugged her, feeling relief wash over him in waves.  “ _Thank you,_ " he said, kissing her hard.  "You’re a fucking lunatic, you know that?  What did you mean by ‘no one told you’?"

“Fang says it’s supposed to be a huge turn-on.”

“Don’t change the subject.”

“And this may probably be the last time I’m ever gonna be able to fit in this dress.”

“ _Don’t_  change the subject,” he growled.

“Noct I’m  _trying_  to have a calm and rational conversation with you—”

“Like anything’s ever been rational and calm between us,” he muttered, pressing a kiss into her hair.  "Just give it to me straight." 

“Oh fuck it then,” she said. She took a step back and took a deep breath.

She spoke Lucian now, but Noct swore he didn’t hear properly.  “You’re  _what?”_

“What are you, deaf?” Light snapped.  “I said I’m  _pregnant_ , asshole.  And it’s yours.  And I’m keeping it.  And you can shove this ring up your ass if you tell me no.”

Shit. Fuck.

_I got her…_

_I-I’m going to be a…_

_Well that explains the ginger ale..._

“Well?” Light huffed putting her hands on her hips.  “What have you got to say for yourself?  Or are you too much of a coward to even—”

Before he even knew he’d moved, his mouth was covering hers and he was kissing her deeply.  She was borderline incoherent when he finally pulled back.  Which was good; it made the next part easier for him.  He took the box out of her hands and slipped the ring on her finger.

“It feels heavy.”

“To slow you down if you try to run away from me.”

She laughed quietly.  

"So I'm assuming it's okay for me to touch you now, right?"

"Yeah." Except she held him at arm’s length… _again_. 

He groaned.  “What _now."_

“I have something for you too.”

“I thought the life form inside you was.”

“It’s a  _baby_ , not a life form. _Etro_.  It really is a wonder how we're still together.”

“Like there’s a difference,” Noct scoffed, before he noticed her reaching inside the V of her dress.  He tried to stop her.  “For fuck’s sake--there's a table you could have left it—”

She grabbed his hand and shoved two tiny paper rectangles in it.  He recognized the tags immediately, feeling his throat run dry.  Was this really...

“You mean…” desire hummed in his veins as he took in all of her now—really  _really_ took in all of her.  “You’re actually…Right  _now_?”

She flushed.  “I’d give you the other half, but I just realized we have an audience.  And I don’t think the King would appreciate the peep show,” she added quietly.

“In private then,” he decided, pulling her tight against him.  “Now, about this theory of yours…”

“ _Fang’s_.”

“Wanna put it to the test?”

"You really have to ask?" Light deadpanned.

The two vanished just as the balcony doors flew open.  

 


End file.
